The Common Application membership association was established in 1975 by 15 private colleges. With the administrative support of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the organization experienced steady growth during its first 30 years. According to The Common Application's website, it "has been committed to providing reliable services that promote equity, access, and integrity in the college application process."
One of the missions of The Common Application is to provide students and colleges with a more holistic application process. This process includes subjective and objective criteria. The subjective criteria include recommendation forms, untimed essays and campus diversity considerations. The majority of colleges in the U.S. use only objective criteria such as grades and test scores.
The application is supported by many public universities in the states of New York, New Jersey, Maine, Maryland, Massachusets, Connecticut, Vermont, Delaware, Virginia, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Colorado. Of all the states, the State University of New York (SUNY) system has the most colleges that accept The Common Application.
Many more private universities accept The Common Application than public universities. Some of the colleges include Centenary College of Louisiana, Elmira College, Jacobs University in Bremen, Moravian College, Ringling College of Art & Design, Stanford University, University of Miami and Westmont College. All of the prestigious Ivy League schools accept The Common Application, and these include Yale, Brown University, Columbia University, Harvard, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College and Princeton.
The application can be completed online or mailed in printed form. Copies of the Application for Undergraduate Admission can be sent to any of the participating colleges, eliminating the need for separate forms and essays. According to The Common Application's website, all member colleges give equal consideration to The Common Application and the college's own form.